Château Malescot Saint Exupery La Dame de Malescot Margaux 2010: Dark purple color; flowers, blackberry, coffee on flirtatious nose;
ripe blackberry, cherry, blackcurrant tang, plum, soupcon of sweet oak; very dry with somewhat assertive tannin (give it some air time); nice depth and length of finish. This is the second wine of Château Malescot Saint Exupery, a third-growth in the Margaux appellation, the southernmost region in the Médoc on the left bank of the Gironde estuary. Which means this is wine royalty, even at second-label, third-growth status; plus, it is available at remarkable price for a Margaux effort (start adding zeroes to the price if you covet one of its tonier cousins and neighbors). There is reverence at the winery for the blessings of Bordeaux; their website proclaims “we do not inherit the earth from our parents but borrow it from our children.” The winery is owned by the Zuger family, with Jean Luke Zuger a third-generation at the helm. The motto on the winery’s castle—wineries and vineyards in this neck of the woods come with castles—is semper ad altum (ever higher), which the Zugers have ascribed to since buying the 328-year-old estate in 1955 after it had fallen into disarray; the past 20 years especially have seen increase in quality and appreciated restraint on price. If you are into wine, you must savor a Margaux at least a couple of times in your life (even better, couple of times a year); this presents that chance without having to go into long-term debt. $44 